First and foremost, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, DADDY!!!! I wish I was there to celebrate with you, and hope you have a wonderful day! I love you and miss you!
We were told that we officially passed through the Bermuda triangle today! We survived! Woo-hoo!
Classes started today! I had a great day! Here is a rundown of how they went:
Adolescence:
This seems like it is going to be a great class! My professor started off the class by having us each introduce ourselves and tell something stupid we did as an adolescent that was really memorable! She seems like a great professor, and I think the class will be a lot of fun. I'm excited about the material we are coving.
Global Studies:
I survived my first lecture hall experience! It was interesting! The concept of having to watch my professor on a TV screen is a little baffling, but it wasn't too bad! For our common reading we read a book called Triumph of the City, which was basically an entire book explaining why cities are the greatest thing in humanity. Today in class, we discussed how the MV Explorer/Semester at Sea community in itself is a "city." It was interesting. I learned a lot about the ship's efforts to be green and how we are a self-sustaining community. I was thoroughly impressed, to be honest. Some examples of the ship's green initiative are the towel reuse program (the stewards will take your towels to be washed if you put them on the floor, you can leave them on the hooks to reuse them, thus saving water consumption), there are no food trays in the dining halls (saving water consumption because they don't have to be washed), most of the materials for the classes are online (saving paper), etc. It's really great. It's a big deal on board.
Race, Class, and Gender:
I am SO excited about this class! There is a main professor and then a TA. The professor is white, and the TA is black. To introduce themselves, they had 16 facts on the projector, and asked us to write down which one we thought the facts were about. I caught on pretty quickly to what they were doing--not only were they introducing themselves, but they were showing how affective racial stereotypes are. It was a neat way of starting the class. This class seems like it is going to hit some pretty intense topics, and I am incredibly excited about it. I'm very into social justice issues.
I found out yet ANOTHER responsibility I will be getting for my work-study job! We have on board an "extended families" program, where the students can form families with the Lifelong Learners (the retired adults on the voyage) and the dependent children of the workers on the voyage. I get to help set up and run this program!! I'm so excited! I already was planning on participating in the program, because I'd love to have a grandparent figure in my life (I have no living grandparents). There is a Lifelong Learner in particular that I would love to be my "grandma" because she lives in St. Charles, IL (about 20 min from Aurora!), and if we became really close, it would be so much fun to have a "grandma" to go visit while I'm at school at home! I'm very excited that I got the opportunity to be involved with this for work-study. I feel so priviledged to be a work-study student. Only about 25% of people that applied for a work-study job received one. I am so fortunate.
I have met SO many people from Cincinnati!!! It is so exciting! I have come across at least over 10 others. In fact, there are a couple girls from Sycamore who are good friends with some of my friends from The Studio! I thought that was so cool!
Tonight is the involvement symposium! I can't wait! I am going to sign up for clubs and other programs on board. I love being involved. Before then, I need to get a jump start on my homework! I don't have too much compared to other people, but we have all of our classes everyday, so I have to get it done tonight.
I still can't fully comprehend the fact that I'm on a ship in the middle of the ocean. The swaying of the ship is calming (especially when I'm sleeping), but it is very disorienting when trying to walk. Everyone looks so silly when they are walking in zig-zags because the ship is moving. I have yet to fall, so I feel that is an accomplishment.
The campus store opened today, and bought a t-shirt that says "Summer 2011 Voyage" on the front with all the flags and names of the countries we are visiting, and then is says "Semester at Sea" along the sleeve. I also got an SAS blanket! It is so comfy! It's grey and sweatshirt material, and it says, "Semester at Sea" with the logo on it. I can't wait to use it in my dorm room at school!
I love it here. I feel that I have so many opportunities ahead of me. I can already feel myself changing and my mind opening. I am so lucky.
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